Looking for someone to do all the work? I also offer Personal Chef Servicesfor people with food allergies and food limitations in Baltimore, Maryland and surrounding areas.

Consultations availablefor people who may have specific questions about different allergen-free diets and help them find recipes they will love. I offer 20 minutes FREE!

What is the HeART of Cooking?
HeART of Cooking was born out of the desire to serve people by helping them cook healthful and delicious meals that also work for their diet. I have personally spent the past 12+ years researching, learning about and experimenting with different diets out of my own desire to have a healthy body. Because of my own food sensitivities, I specialize in cooking for many different diets. Because I love to cook, preparing a meal is like creating a piece of art that will nourish the body as well as the heart.

If you want to prepare delicious food for your family that is free of common allergens, but don’t have time to plan new meals each week, you’ve come to the right place. Envision yourself coming home to a table spread with food that is delicious as well as catered to your needs.

Something somewhat miraculous has happened in my life. After avoiding almost all fruit for two years and starchy and sweet veggies for over nine years, I am eating them again. My food choices had become increasing grim and unappetizing last year where I found myself eating the same limited foods each week: salmon, chicken, turkey, some beef, non-starchy veggies including spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, etc, some cheese, eggs, coconut, nuts, chia seeds…not sure what else. I basically was bored with food and tired of eating because life in the land of food had become so pathetically unpleasing to the eye as well as the palette.

How I started this journey ten years ago when I embarked upon the GAPS diet and how I ended up where I am today eating a (mostly) plant-based diet is quite a long story and I’m still working on writing about about this journey. So in the meantime, I will share what is nourishing and filling me up these days.

Until you’ve had someone cook for you as a personal chef, it can be hard to imagine just what it’s like and how the process works. When I tell people I am a personal chef in Baltimore, Maryland, they often say, “Oh! I need you to come cook for me!” They aren’t usually serious but who doesn’t want meals made specifically to their tastes? Their next question is usually about how it all works.

It’s really not that complicated, though it can be if someone has a lot of food restrictions. I usually work with people with some kind of allergy or restriction, however I also work with plenty of people who simply want to eat more healthily.

After we’ve conducted the client consultation over the phone where I have asked plenty of questions in order to create a menu based on the client’s likes and dislikes, we schedule a day for me to come to their home a do a “cook day.” You can read more about the specific ins and outs of how my services work on my Personal Chef Services page, but in this post I really wanted to SHOW you what it’s like!

It’s been a long time since I have written about my process with my health, and there have been many times when I wasn’t even sure I was going to blog again. For a while, I was pressuring myself to blog and post recipes. But it was not coming from a place of really wanting to do it, simply trying to convince myself that I should.

That strategy has never worked for me.

And now I see it was not time yet for me to blog or share the details of my health journey with people in this way. It is like I have been in a incubator in order for me to recover and heal.

The other day I was spotted by a cashier at the Mt. Washington Whole Foods in Baltimore, MD. He said, “You’re a personal chef, aren’t you?” I was a little giddy to be singled out because I don’t think this has happened before in the eleven years I’ve been cooking for people. So I said, “Yes, how could you tell?” He then named a few things that made me stand out: I had two separate food orders, I had a detailed printed grocery list, I brought my own shopping bags and I asked to keep the receipt. Why two orders? I almost always buy some food for my family while I’m shopping for clients!

The idea to make dried watermelon came to me through a friend. Watermelon isn’t something you normally see in the dried fruit section in stores. But it tastes great dried and is great for traveling. My son loves it!

I receive a lot of emails from people who have found my site and are looking for ideas for their very limited diet. Some of these people are at a complete loss as to what to eat because their diet is so limited. I received one of these emails from someone last week inquiring about a diet for her daughter.

This is a similar list to many of the people who come to me. There are definite variations and more limited diets like those without any meat or fish, legumes, nuts, all fruit, etc. But I thought I’d start with this diet to give you some ideas on where to start.

Being a personal chef who specializes in cooking for people on limited diets, I am always meeting people who follow different kinds of limited diets. I’m different from most personal chefs who have set menu items. Instead, I work with my clients personally on the diet they follow and with their dietary restrictions. Because of this I’m always learning something new. My latest new client has been given a protocol to follow to help heal her Lyme’s disease. And she gave me the book that her doctor recommended, Recipes for Repair by Gail and Laura Piazza. I’ve been trying some of the recipes and they are really delicious.

What does one do when stuck inside during a blizzard? Make cookies of course. And if you live in the mid-Atlantic region of the country, you know what I’m talking about. I’m just hoping I can go to work sometime next week. If not, I guess I’ll just make more cookies:) I hope that if you’re also in the middle of the storm, you are home safe and cozy with heat and a batch of fresh baked cookies yourself.

Have you ever wondered how to make a very tender and delicious beef stir fry? It is easy to mess up a beef stir fry recipe and end with meat that is tough and chewy. How tender the meat turns out depends upon the cut of meat you use as well as the way it is cooked. Plus, if you’re using grass-fed beef, it cooks faster than regular beef and needs to be removed earlier.

Meet Sarah Schatz

Hi and Welcome! My name is Sarah Schatz and I’m an artist, mom and personal chef for people on limited diets. My son has food allergies and I follow a low-carb Paleo diet for health reasons. I created Heart of Cooking online menu planners because I love to cook and also know how hard it is to stay on a limited diet. Click here to learn more and receive a FREE weekly menu planner specifically for your diet and/or allergies.

What People Say...

Your straight forward approach takes a load off my mind...

I want to say that just receiving your menu plan is such a relief already. I’ve been trying to follow the GAPS diet for several months now and have been overwhelmed with it much of the time. Your straight forward, very well organized approach is fabulous and a load off my mind! Thank you for the work you’re doing!